Brooklyn Bridge

Haw writes of the Brooklyn Bridge, "...its cultural history owes as much to the imagination as it does to historical events." No where is this better expressed than in Whitman's unsought accreditation for the glorification of the Brooklyn Bridge. It is indeed peculiar that a poem which doesn't even speak of the bridge would somehow come to embody its importance in the world. But while it's peculiar, given the circumstances, it is not altogether misplaced.
As Haw's writing expresses, the Brooklyn Bridge had its fair share of media help on its path to becoming a main American attraction. Sometimes the reputation, mysteriousness, and sheer enormity of a thing can create for it a reputation that may not be an appropriate approximation of the things itself. But when it comes to Whitman's poem, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, all the elements of creativity and mysticism associated with bridge were present in abundant detail. And the fact that the bridge itself is not mentioned physically doesn't appear to be a problem as it is more than adequately represented spiritually. The ferry and its surroundings represent the same sense of completeness and connection that the bridge does. The poem speaks of posterity, and the similarity of strangers as they all travel the same path. Whitman's poem brought out that which was best in the connection of Brooklyn to greater New York (whether it be via ferry or bridge), and that feeling of innovation and prosperity was inevitably endowed in the memory of the structure.